Buswell about-turn on misuse of entitlements

West Australian Premier
Colin Barnett
is standing by his decision to force the resignation of his Treasurer, despite claims yesterday by
Troy Buswell
and his former lover, Greens MP Adele Carles, that there had been no misuse of entitlements.

The Premier backed away from his previous comments that Mr Buswell’s resignation was the result solely of the misuse of ­entitlements and not his now very public affair.

“It’s not necessarily a matter simply of legality. It’s a matter of propriety, and I stand by the ­decision," Mr Barnett told reporters in Kalgoorlie.

“The decision for him to stand down was the correct decision and it will hold."

The affair, described yesterday by Greens senior member Giz Watson as “the worst-kept secret in Perth", was made public at the weekend when Ms Carles made an admission after having her hand forced by Greens colleagues seeking party transparency.

Mr Buswell admitted the four-month affair on Monday, also disclosing that he had misused ­entitlements to meet Ms Carles on several occasions.

The Premier then in effect asked for his “good friend’s" ­resignation, saying that Mr Buswell had misused entitlements in the past and was on his “last life".

“I pointed out to him that his situation was untenable," Mr Barnett said on Tuesday.

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But Mr Buswell told ABC Radio yesterday that he had sought legal advice and discovered he had not misused the entitlements.

Mr Buswell has on several occasions embarrassed the state Liberal Party. He has been involved in scandals that include sniffing a woman’s chair, snapping a woman’s bra strap and grabbing a colleague’s testicles.

Mr Buswell’s backflip followed a show of support by Ms Carles, who confronted the media outside state parliament yesterday.

“I’m saying there was no misuse of parliamentary entitlements and I would like Colin Barnett to review his advice that he’s taken and have a close look at this and set the record straight."

Ms Carles said Mr Buswell had received poor advice to make the ­admission in the first place.

“At no time was there any misuse of parliamentary entitlements," she said.

“I visited Mr Buswell when he was in those towns on legitimate business," she said, referring to a rendezvous in Sydney and in ­Albany, WA.

The public sector commissioner will look into the use of parliamentary and ministerial entitlements claimed by the two politicians to assess whether there were breaches.